Homes up for grabs in contest

Nonprofit agency behind $20 million Flamingo project

December 25, 2007|BY ROBIN BENEDICK STAFF WRITER

The prize is four townhouses worth at least $250,000 each, on offer for about a quarter of their fair-market value.

Broward County's version of the popular HGTV's Dream Home contest will let low-income families compete to qualify for a $75,000 mortgage on a new townhouse in a working-class Fort Lauderdale neighborhood. Grants, subsidies and private donations will cover the rest of the purchase price.

"We're hoping the contest draws attention to the affordable housing problem we're having and highlights that families really are deserving of a decent place to live," said Katharine S. Barry, founder and chief executive officer of the nonprofit HOMES Inc., the contest sponsor.

Over the next few months, prospective buyers can apply for the first townhouses to be built at the Villas at Flamingo Landing on the southwest corner of Northeast 13th Street and Dixie Highway. Four of the applicant families will be chosen to receive the two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath homes, priced at $250,000 to $275,000.

To be eligible, families must pass credit and criminal background checks, earn about $49,000 or less annually for a family of four and qualify for a $75,000 mortgage.

A selection committee will whittle the application pool to 10 finalists. Each of them then will be asked to record a video essay on their situation to be posted on the HOMES Web site, www.homesfl.org. Online visitors will then vote for their favorite.

After online visitors' votes are tallied, the selection committee will announce its three winners and the one selected by the most viewers.

A total of 25 townhouses are planned at the 2.3-acre property that HOMES Inc. owns, as well as 18 apartments, offices and stores. The Flamingo Landing development, will be built in phases for low and moderate income buyers. The first owners could move in in 2009.

HOMES has already built about 100 single-family homes for low-income families in Broward County, but this is its first mixed-use project.

The contest is meant to generate community support for the $20 million development.

The county's Housing Finance Authority recently approved a $225,000 grant for the project, said Norman Howard, assistant to the director of the authority. "It's a collaboration that gets these developments built," Howard said.

Robin Benedick can be reached at rbenedick@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7914.

INFORMATIONAL BOX:

HOW TO ENTER

Four low-income families will be awarded new townhouses with a $75,000 mortgage at Northeast 13th Street and Dixie Highway in Fort Lauderdale. Subsidies and grants will cover the remaining $175,000-$200,000 of the sales price.

Learn more about the contest and the Flamingo Landing development at www.homesfl.org . For information about how to apply, e-mail ultimatedreamhomes@ homesfl.org. For questions about sponsorship, e-mail sponsorinfo@homesfl.org.